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Lone Star Blog

As per the trend, my sister in Dubai has enjoying early access to New Years (I still need to post those pictures I took while there, don't I?). I don't think I've ever seen a city go all out like this for their fireworks.

Seriously though, this year was a step up from 2013 in many ways. Goals and such didn't progress for me as fast as I wanted though. I said this time last year that 2014 would be the year of change. I was half right -- the changes were just delayed by 6 months. I did finally start going to the gym and I saw some results, but it's challenging to keep a habit like this going. I'm paying too much to keep skipping out though. 2015 will be interesting to say the least. Lots of management changes at my job (a job that has less than desirable work, I must confess).

That, and the Power Lies Beneath project didn't move as fast as I wanted. I've moved some priorities around though, so you all should start seeing some new stuff soon.

Anyway, 2014 was a good year, a nice step up from the not-so-enjoyable 2013. We'll just have to see how I fare for 2015. I definitely look forward to at least catching a glimpse of Doc Brown and Marty McFly -- not to mention all the tech advancements! Flying cars, hoverboards... it's gonna be great.

For those who haven't been graced with 2015 yet (like me), I hope tonight is fantastic for you, whether you're out having fun or sitting at home binge-watching The Legend of Korra on Amazon.

A detailed overview of the game controls (keyboard keys, joystick support, etc.)

A detailed description of your game’s mechanics or features (i.e. what can the player do?)

A description of your game’s artistic style (if applicable)

A description of the story and characters (if applicable)

6. If entering a playable game as an entry, make sure to include a short but informative description about the game. You should include screenshots or, if you're submitting a board/card game, pictures of the props, cards, etc.

7. There should be one entry per member. All BZPower members are welcome to submit an entry.

Hi everyone. For those who wanted to see those pictures, here is the URL.

www.dropbox.com/sh/oza1yocyjnd769a/AADApUVE9tMPKoHZnnO5cgaXa . Sorry there aren't that many, I'm no master photographer by any stretch.

I had a blast at that convention, and being able to sleep in my own bed was so worth going alone. I do really need to find people to go with next year. I also still need to go watch that other stream with the Game Grumps, since I decided to go see the RWBY Vol. 1 screening instead.

First off, I want to wish everyone a happy Fourth of July. Even if that date means nothing to you, it's still a Friday. Go out and party it up tonight!

Next up. There were some... unfortunatecomplications with RTX today. Thus, I'm home earlier than expected. This means I get to talk about my first day at the convention.

I woke up bright and early since I regrettably could not get off work early enough for the pre-registration. How they arranged the process was a little complicated, but the (very kind and helpful) Guardians were posted everywhere to direct people and answer questions, so I'm very grateful for that. While in line for registration, I caught a glimpse of Gus rushing by. This was only within like 15 minutes of walking into the convention center.

I would have been ready to enter the con proper at about 9 -- only an hour after the registration opened. Only issue was that the con starts at 12, so I had some waiting to do in that regard (but I at least was near the front of the line to enter the exhibit hall).

Unfortunately, I missed the call for people waiting for the exhibit hall to open to leave the line to go to the RWBY panel waiting hall. They had apparently announced it at about 10 am.

The panel was at 1 pm.

One thing that definitely stands out is how much earlier I have to get in line for things as opposed to PAX East. Attendance has doubled this year at RTX, which means rooms fill up faster than you would think humanly possible. So yeah, I can't talk about RWBY because the hall was filled up long before I even made it to the correct line.

A positive thing from this is that I had plenty of time to explore the exhibit hall and some lunch at one of the few Austin food trucks open on 4th of July. I learned my lesson for the RTAA panel (which was at 3pm) and got in line at about 1:30pm. RTAA isn't quite as popular as RWBY, so I got to sit near the front for that one. Saw Gus Bot, and chuckled at the some of the very ... awkward questions con-goers asked Jordan, Gus, and Burnie (nothing I'm not used to at this point).

After the RTAA panel, I went back to the exhibit hall and picked up Munchkin: Apocalypse. I've been wanting to pick up one of the Munchkin games for awhile and when the lady and the booth talked about it, I knew Apocalypse was the one I wanted.

I went back up to where the main hall was at about 5:30 just to make sure I could get a good seat for the Game Grumps event (which was to be at 8 pm). Line was already packed and I think the Guardians had prepare the waiting room earlier than anticipated, but yeah. I was about in the center of the waiting room

The next highlight was going to be see the Game Grumps play Cards Against Humanity, but then the unfortunate complication happened. All in all, I had a great time, but no lie: it's really not the same going to a convention yourself unless you're the life-of-the-party type. I talked to plenty of people, but it was clear that a lot of us were overextending ourselves to be talkative, and it's just so much effort when you're a huge introvert (coming up with something to talk about is hard). The events and booths are cool, but at every con, the true draw is really just hanging out with your friends.

Okay, so she didn't sing Creeping in my Soul, but Rooster Teeth's Barbara Dunkelman does do the voice of Yang on RWBY. She's really nice and down to earth, even given the fact that she the RT community manager -- she's really good at what she does.

So I'm at my intermediate stop on my overseas trip to Dubai. Not a lot of interesting things at this little terminal. Apparently the airline I'm flying to Dubai only had one gate.

So why Dubai? My sister lives and works there, so I decided to spend this year's vacation time visiting her. This stop wasn't originally part of the plan so of course, the parents are worried, but that's standby travel for you, and at least this option is, well, affordable.

At any rate, I'm excited. Hope I remember to take and share some pictures.

Rewind back to a couple months ago when I booked and confirmed my trip to the awesome city of Portland. Admittedly, I was unsure at the time about my decision: what would Portland be like? How weird was it actually? Would I have all the fun I hoped I would? Not to mention the fact that I wasn't sure if going to the smaller convention in a new city was better than the larger convention to a city I'd already been to (BrickCon in this case. I doubt you'll see me visit the same con twice in a row unless it's Brick Fiesta).

Nonetheless, I went with it.

Then Deep Web Tour was announced. And guess which weekend Childish Gambino decided to perform in Texas?

No, seriously. Guess.

... yeah

(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

All hope seemed lost.

But then, something new arose; a Titan would Fall, and there would be much celebration. And... guess what? Childish Gambino likes the game so much that he would be there too! (He really did say during the concert that he thought Titanfall was a cool game).

Here are some pictures from the event. I hope to post videos too, but they need to be edited first because holding a camera steady while getting the zoom right is apparently quite difficult.

Awesome game + awesome rapper + awesome internet celebrities = awesome Monday night. Got a picture with Major Nelson (I don't really listen to his podcast that much, but hey, free photo!) Got to see (but not approach -- I ain't ready for that yet (why are they so tall?)) the Rooster Teeth crew, and got some free stuff including a Titanfall t-shirt. Vince Zampella and Yusuf Mehdiwere also there and they talked a little bit about the game. And all for the price of waiting in line for 4 hours after a full work day.

Say what you want, it was totally worth it. Only issues were my lacking in height and weight which sometimes led to me being thrown around like a ragdoll on the quite small standing room space. It also I meant I sometimes had to jump to see the performance. Also, many non-Titanfall fans only there for the concert. Ah well, that just meant more time to play the game myself, as they all crowded the front of the stage an hour before the show began.

I've been spending the past couple evenings catching up on sleep, hence the slight delay. The Titanfall game should also be reaching my doorstep tomorrow.

Thinking over 2013 reminded me that despite certain issues, this year was pretty good. Not better than 2012, or 2011 (or any other year except 2007 and 2005) but still pretty good. It started off disappointing, then awesome, then horrible, and has been steadily getting better ever since. I'm glad I was able to make it to PAX East, BrickFiesta, and Brickfair VA this year. The BZPRPG is (in my opinion, both in writing and community) the best it's ever been. Lastly, I got a new job in Austin, which is cool, even if the lack of college ties in this city makes it hard to find a group to repeatedly hang out with.

I'm not so glad my first job out of college was a waste of my time and theirs. I'm not glad that it's apparent that certain problems I've had since childhood will never be going away (nothing quite like learning that there are somethings in life that you will never be able to do well). Ironically, life in Austin has been borderline lonely. There's not a lot of people where I work and constantly trying to find a new group to chill with is quite draining to an introvert like me. The fact that I'm a lot more selective of who I hang with and less tolerant of certain mindsets doesn't help matters there either.

There were a lot of lessons learned this year, and overall, I'd label 2013 as one giant learning experience. Lots of people are going through issues that I didn't even know existed just a couple years back. Lots of people I know also struggling with the high demands of adulthood, and being harshly criticized for not meeting the mark. Sometimes I really miss living in Houston - not because those days came with a lot less stress and expectations (they didn't), but because the consequences of not always making the best decision weren't nearly as harsh then as they are now. Young adults everywhere are realizing we now have a lot less room for error then we did before.

2014 will basically be about what I do with what I've learned, and what decisions will I be making in the future, now that I know more then I did before.